Reviews on true crime books.For readers of true crime stories you have the option to search by true crime writer,by title or by true crime genre.Also included are links for readers who prefer to buy their true crime books online and to access other readers' reviews.

Friday, August 14, 2009

I decided to do this post and share some blogging tips that I have picked up along the way.

Why?

I have been trying for so long to get to 1st page google for my keywords and last night I made it for the FIRST time.I could not believe it.I saved that page.For about 3 hours I kept on entering the same keywords and there were my links (two of them).I wanted to stay up the whole night.But I fell asleep and this morning one of my links was gone but one is still there.I am not expecting it to stay there forever because any post done with those keywords from a more popular site (of which there are millions) will knock me further and further down.For example,J Kaye could do a post on "true crime" right now and I would be knocked so far out into cyberspace I might never find my way back again.But today was a HAPPY day!!!

So I thought I would share a few things that I used along the way,maybe you know about them already but if you don't -I hope they help!!

A-The Alexa Tool-this is a program that ranks every site on the web,the lower the number the more popular the site is.Being one of the top 100 000 is a very big deal.Google is No 1.Facebook was 3 the last time I checked.Cons

-I have read complaints on the web about whether the system they use to rank is valid due to the fact that the more visits you get via social networking sites the better your rank and if you start getting more visits via search engines your rank gets worse.In my own experience,this has happened to me.Initially I was climbing so well I actually reached 229K and the more popular I got the more visitors I received via Google and my rank started getting worse and worse.Now I just don't care.!!Apparently the Alexa rank is really only applicable in the Top 100 000 so there you have it.

-Initially you will see your ranking get better and better after you have installed this Alexa Tool bar as this program ranks you according to how many people visit who have this toolbar installed.So every time you visit your own blog(which is a lot,if you are OCD like me) then your ranking gets better but its actually not very valid.

-I have Panda installed for web security and it keeps on removing this Alexa Toolbar and throwing it into quarantine and eventually I got tired of re-installing the toolbar every 5 days or so.Right now it's on but for how long,I'm not sure...

Pros-You install this Alexa Toolbar and every site you visit, this toolbar gives you this site's ranking on the web.-You get an indication of whether you are doing the right stuff on your own blog and how you rank compared to other blogs.

My Rating5/10

B-Checking your page rank-This also gives you an indication of how popular your blog is.The higher your rank the better.This ranking does not come overnight.I think I was "unrated" for 3 months and then it got better and then just stopped.I have been my current rank for 3 months now.Also this site offers that you insert your page rank on your blog.You don't have to listen to me but when I did that I lost ALL of my google links and believe me the few I did have were a long time coming so I removed that and I will never put it on again.I also read that Google frowns on that practise and I try not to do anything that would make the MIGHTY Google angry.

My Rating:7/10

C-Checking Your LinksThe more links you have the better.If a blog has you in their blogroll then that counts as a link.I am not too sure about this but having a RSS feed on your profile say at Book Blogs would probably count as links(can anyone confirm if this is true?).I also have a profile at Shelfari and all my books on my shelf are entered via the url of a post that I have done a post on.Some how Shelfari picks up the name of the book and inserts it onto your shelf.I have no idea how valid this is considering I then take that same shelf and put it on my blog.Maybe if you don't have the shelf on your blog it counts as links(anybody know??).The more popular the site that links to you the better.So I installed a RSS feed on my Facebook profile as it is ranked 3.But to be honest I have no idea if it worked as I still have to see where this RSS feed is actually feeding to.I cannot see it on my Facebook profile.

Small tip: this report gives you how many links you have on Google,Yahoo,MSN,Alta Vista and AllTheWeb.It looks quite easy to get links recognised by Yahoo,AltaVista and AllTheWeb,slightly more difficult on Google and virtually impossible on MSN where I have no links(and I don't care...).

By clicking on the numbers provided it will give you a list of blogs where your links appear,not all of them,but at least 5 pages of them if you have lots of links.

My Rating: 9/10

D-Checking for keywords on the Google Keyword ToolBasically this tool will give you how many people search for a certain keyword in any one given month.It also tells you how popular it is with other people trying to rank with the same keyword.Basically the trick is to find one with low advertiser popularity and rank with that one and then work your way up to the one you ultimately want.As an example when I chose the title of this post I wanted it to be "blogging tips" but chose "blog tips" because more people search via "blog tips".

My Rating: 9/10

There are so much more...Please let me know if you are interested in me doing another post with more blogging tips.All the above are absolutely free to join but some do request that you insert their code on your blog so what I did was do a post called "Memberships" where I inserted all the required codes.

I still have to talk about Google Analytics where you keep track of who visited you,from where,how they found you e.g. which keywords were used,how long they stayed on.I also have some good info on your bounce rate.Did you know that if a visitor lands on your blog and reads just the landing page even if they read for 3 hours it is considered a bounce.They need to access another post on your blog for it to be considered a real visit.But don't worry about this because apparently that doesn't affect your ranking.I will post the interview with a Google guy where he confirms this.And also META tags.I think this is the one which did it for me considering I did this one about a month back..

I truly hope I haven't bored you all to death but I was just so happy about my google placement that I thought I would let you know what I did.As I write this I am still not sure if I should "publish"it.I might do it for a few hours and test if my blogger friends like it.If not I am putting it straight back into "draft".

Oh yes,before I forget,I always thought that my first abusive commenter would give me an indication that I was making it in cyberspace and guess what I got my first abusive comment about 2 weeks back.Check out the comments on this link.

And Missy at Missy's Book Nook would like to know how to insert a favicon into your blogger profile.If you do know how please go over and see if you can help her out.Here is the link to that post

I really hope these tips help someone.

Also I had my blog analysed and I scored very low for my posts having any relevance to my blog title and description,and this is after doing posts ONLY on true crime books so I thought WTH might as well branch out into other stuff....while i renovate my old house.Remember Shakin' Stevens "This Old House"What ever happened to him??

13 comments:

Really enjoyed this post Yvette, I didn't know half that stuff and yes please post more blog tips, I think it's great when bloggers share that sort of thing with other bloggers. And YAY for the 1st page google placement!!

We can always use more blogging tips. I love to see stuff like this, so thanks! I can tell you that google likes original content and the articles shouldn't be too long or too short or have too many of the same keyword. I don't know the exact specifics, but I read them somewhere.

For example, since I do payroll as part of my job, I wrote a blog post in April about the new payroll stimulus bill here in the U.S. and I explain it in layman's terms. Evidently a lot of people don't know if they are getting the correct amount of federal tax with held and they are searching out for information.

I am amazed that my blog post is still the #2 position on google search engine if you enter "payroll stimulus." The funny thing about that is I never planned it or gave it any thought! I was just excited to be given a "raise" by the government taking out fewer federal taxes, and I sat down and wrote it very quickly! Out of all my blog posts it has been found by google search more than anything else!

I like the free feedgit widget, it shows right on your blog your latest traffic and where it originated from, be it a link or a search, and for searches it will tell you exactly what the person searched for that made them land on your blog. You can get even more detail by clicking the "watch in real time."

Anyway, happy for you and the great rankings. You have a terrific blog, well deserving of such.

Alaine,thanks for letting me know.I will do one once a week or so.John I know what you mean.That's why I ranked so low with post relevance to blog title/description but I refuse to have true crime in every sentence.I mean,seriously,and now you are saying that if I did that it would be frowned upon so thank goodness I kept that to a minimum.There are so many conflicting things out there so I think the best way really is to keep the passion for blogging first and foremost,then maybe apply in little doses the blog tips as you pick it up.

Hey Yvette! Thank you for mentioning my plea for help for a favicon! Trish at Hey Lady! Whatch Readin'? had a very informative blog post as to how to make and add a favicon to your web address. I had it done in 15 minutes. Wish I had found her post the day before...I spent 8 hours trying to do it myself! Have a great day!!

Oh Missy glad you got the problem sorted out.I will go to Trish's blog and find out how.I tried once to do that but it never worked.Kim glad you liked it and things are going okaaaay with the re modelling.Some ups some downs some funny stories you will hear all about it soonLazyKing thanks for the "yes" vote.I will try and do a post like this once a week and mention a few tips I picked up.

Hey KateNow that you have joined Google Analytics please try and do a post every now and then on the strange keywords used to access your blog.I love those.It is hosted by Holly at 2 Kids and Tired Reviews.

And for the negative comments, I have gotten 2 so far, but at least your person was ballsy enough to put their blog name on it. Both times someone has down it under Anonymous. I just did a blog post the other day about it.

I found your site through your twitter comment with LazyKing and I'm so happy I did. So many blogging tips article have the same advice and they are not fun to read.

This was interesting and really helped me to know what to do and why, and it came form personal experience and not just books. Thank you for sharing some of your "secrets" and I hope to visit in the near future. I'm love True Crime Tv but maybe its time to hit the books instead : )